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(No Model.)

J. P. HILL. FLooR GLAMPl V w 4. 8. T; 1. FNL W F W? d T w i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JAMES P. HILL, OF SACO, MAINE.

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SPECIFICATION orming part of Letters Patent No. 354,418, date December 14, 1886. Applicalion filed July 21, 1886. Serial No. 0S,683. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom it maty conccrn:

Be it known that I, J AMEs P. HILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Saco, in the county of York and State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Floor-Clamps for the Use of Builders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of my invention, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a top view of ring R, of which Fig. 2 is a reversed View. Fig. 3 is asectional view of same on line A A. Fig. 4 is a side View of same. O is a stud. D is a socket. Figs. 5 and 6 are views of a lever, L.,

The object of my invention is to provide an effective tool for clamping and securing the boards of a floor preparatory to their being permanently secured bynailing or otherknown means, this end to be attained in asimple, economical, and efficient manner.

The ordinary method of clamping or setting floor-boardsI preparatory to their being permanently secured is by the use of wooden wedges or braces. This method is tedious and wastcful both of time and material. Machines called clamping machines have been invented for -this purpose, all of which are more or less expensive, complicated, and difficult' of operation.

'My improved fioor-clamp consists of a metallic ring or disk, R, having at or near its w edge a st'ud, O, and at or near the opposite edge a socket, D, as and for the purposes hereinafter set forth.

The manner of using my improved clamp is as follows: If a single floor is to be laid, holes are bored in the beams. If a double fioor is to be laid, these holes are bored in the lower floor, these holes to be of a diameter to receive readily the stud O. These holes are bored at any convenient distance relative to the length of the board to be clamped, at a distance from the edge of the board about equal to the diameter of the ring, these distances depending on the judgment of the workman. The studs of the clamping-rings are inserted in these holes, and between the rings and the edge of the board scantlings are placed to protect the edge of the board and distribute the pressure of the clamp. The

lever L is then placed in the socket D and force applied in direction to cause an eccentric movement of the ring around its center at O, which movement causes the edge of the ring to be forced against the board or. scantling, thus securing the full, ready, and certain action of the eccentric clamp. When the board is secured in place by nailing or other- Wise, a reversed movement of the lever re` lieves the pressure, and the operation is repeated ad mfinitwn. i

It will be noticed that the eccentric motion of the ring is a horizontal motionon a plane with the floor-board. By the use of two or more of these rings at distances required a single workman can accomplish a greater amount of work at less expenditure of time and strength than by any method known to your petitioner.

My improved floor-clamp possesses advantages over the ordinary method, as Well as over any iloor-clarnping machines now in use, in that it is inore'cheaply constructed than any other mechanism for the purpose, its cost being less than the cost of the wooden wedges. It is a model of simplicity as well as of efliciency, the measure of its power being determined by the diameter of the ring and length of lever. For ordinary use a ring of three or four inches diameter with a lever eighteen to twenty-four inches in length is arnple.`

What I claim as'my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The circular ring R, having the Stud C on one side and the socket D on the opposite side, they being on or near opposite edges of said ring, as herein shown and describcd, in combination with the lever Informed to fit said socket, to operate as and for the purpose specified.

2. As an improved article of manufacture, the herein-described fioor-clamp, consisting of a circular' metallic ring having at or near one edge a stud and at or near the opposite edge a socket, in combination with a lever formed to fit in said socket, as shown, and for the purpose specified.

JAMEs P. HIL. Witnesses: i

F. W. GUrrILL, FRANK W. NUMER. 

